Aikplaste



C. J. LAKE.

AIRPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.28. 1917.

l 3G7, 1 $o Patented June 17, 1919.

% gym yum lid GHEISQOPHEB, J. LilKE, 0F BBaIDlCiEfORl, CUIHIECTTWUT.

AIRPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June it,

Application filed August 28, 1917. Serial No. 188,683.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER J. LAKE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to airplanes and my improvement is directed particularly to a novel form of aerofoil, so devised and arranged with respect to the means by which it is mounted that it is sumeptible "of employment both as an elevator. and as a directional rudder. lhis new. form of aerofoil may thus be termed a composite control member.

T he dual functions possessed bythis control member are imparted therein through a system of biaxial mounting resembling a Garden-joint, whereby said member ma swing about a longitudinal axis, also about asmounted at the rear end of the fuselage, being carried upon a longitudinal pivot l, that is journaled in ajj yoke 55; which latter is mounted in bearings 6, by transverse pivots 7. Therefore the aerofoil 3 is capable of swinging both laterally and longitudinally, and also of swinging through arcs represent ing the combined mibtions of its pivotal sup ports.

The yoke or mount 5, as here shown, is represented as a closed link or ring, with spaced sicle members 8, which are inclined from the center downwardly and divergingly in the shape of a wide V, its end members 9 having the bearings 6, and its upper central portion 10 affording the bearings for the pivot 4:.

A sleeve 11 is mounted'upon the pivot l and itself carries upwardly diverging arms 12, which serve as supports for the aerofoil 3, which is engaged thereby in' the region a transverse axis, and besides have composite centers of movement created by jointvpivotal action of both axes.

By means of the universal character "of movement available for this control member it can be caused to operate either solely as an elevator, solely as a directional rudder, or as partaking of the functions of both elevator and rudder.

Other features and advantages of my said invention will hereinafter appear 1n the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tractor 'is here shown as applied to a tractor lei-plane having the fuselage 1, main supporting aerofoils 2,'and control aerofoil 3.

In presenting a practical form of bi-aXi'a-l mounting for aerofoil 3 I wish to make clear that such form is purely arbitrary and nonlimiting, the essential characteristic of the pivotal arrangement employed being that the separate axes, whether intersecting or in different planes, must be in perpendicular relation to each other.

Thus the control aerofoil 3 is here shown of the center of pressure.

The mount 5 is in fact a pivotal support for the aerofoil and is itself pivotally carried by the fuselage, the respective pivotal axes hearing right angular relation to each other.

A sector 13 is connected at its ends to the arms 12, depending therefrom, and being fitted with control cables 14-, 15, which, re spectively, hug opposite sides of said sector, as in a peripheral groove therein, and cross each other below the pivot a. As a matter of convenience, with the form of mount here shown, the pivots 7 maybe hollow, to allow I the passage of the cables therethrough; said. cables passing thence over pulleys 16, which may be journaled in lugs 17 that are borne by the fuselage.

- Lever arms 18 extend from the yoke 5, and control cables 19 are connected to the ends of said arms.

It will be apparent that by manipulation of the cables 14 and 19, either separately or conjointly, the aerofoil 3 may be caused to assume any desired angle for control of the airplane.

The aerofoil 3 is here shown as set with its chord at a rearwardly converging angle relatively to its longitudinal axis or pivot i,

whereby said aerofoil may normally present a conslderable attacking angle of incidence;

this angle of course being variable through the control and the mounting means descrlbechwhereby sald aerofoil 1s caused to operate with all the desirable functions of an elevator, and. whereby these functions he till ll fl come merged into those other functions of the same aerofoil when it is swung about its longitudinal axis to give horizontal direction to the airplane. Hence, it will be easily perceived that the directional facilities of this aerofoil are composite, in so much that,

.While OXQL'CiSiIig support, it may, in the different arcs of l ESIIIOVGIHQIIt, be employed to guide the airplane vertically, laterally, and through all intermediate directional ranges.

I find that the angular arrangement here indicated between the aerofoil 3 and its 1011- gitudinal pivot 4, enables the control action to be quickly responsive, because, thereby, when swinging the aerofoil from its central position only about said pivot, its angle of incidence becomes progressively increased With relation to the longitudinal axis of the airplane.

Variations may be resorted to Within the spirit and scope of my said invention and parts thereof used Without others.

I clain1:-

1. In an airplane, in combination, an auxiliary aerofoil, and a bi-axial mount therefor said aerofoil having longitudinal pivotal movement and presenting, for vertical control, an angle of incidence in the line of flight, ,and said aerofoil being turn-able about a lengthwise axis, in the-central vertical plane of, and so inclined forwardly down ward to the longitudinal axis of, the airplane, that said aerofoil, for directional control, presents varying angles of incidence to said longitudinal axis.

2. In an airplane, in combination, an auxiliary aerofoil, and a iii-axial mount engaging said aerofoil in the region of the center of pressure thereof, said aerofoil having longitudinal pivotal movement and presenting, for vertical control an angle of incidence in the line of flight, and said aerofoil being turnable about a lengthwise axis, in the central vertical plane of, and so inclined forpeerage ivardly and down Ward to the longitudinal axis of the airplane, that said aerofoil, for directional control, presents varying angles of incidence to said longitudinal axis.

3. In an airplane having a fuselage, a

main supporting unit, and 'a control aerofoil, the combination of a bi-axial mount Whose respective axes are perpendicular to each other, a transverse pivot connecting said mount and fuselage, and a longitudinal pivot connecting said mount and aerofoil, the chord of said aerofoil converging rearwardly with relation to the axis of its pivot, Whereby, in its'lateral movement, said aerofoil varies its angle of incidence relatively to the longitudinal axis of said airplane.

at. In an airplane having a fuselage, a main supporting-unit, and a control aerofoil, the combination of a bi-axial mount Whose respective axes are perpendicular to each other, said mount comprising a longitudi nally arranged pivot, means revolulole on said pivot and engaging said aerofoil in the region of the center of pressure thereof, a bearing for said pivot, and a transverse pivot to revolubly engage said bearing.

5. The combination, with a control aero foil for airplanes, of a bi-axial mount, said mount comprising a longitudinally arranged pivot, a bearing member, and a transverse pivot for said bearing member, and means for revolublv connecting said aerofoil with said longitudinally arranged pivot, whereby said aerofoil may swing between a central longitudinal position and respective vertical pos tions at opposite sides of said mount.

Signed at the borough of Manhattan, in

the city, county and State of New York, this 2lth day of August, A. D. 1917.

CHRISTOPHER J. LAKE.

Witnesses F. W. BARKER, A. B. BARKER. 

